Police Warn Tourists, Christmas Shoppers To Beware Of Crime

December 4, 1985|By Bob Levenson of The Sentinel Staff (Reporter Terry Osinski contributed to this report.)

About this time of the year, most people are thinking about decoratively wrapped presents under Christmas trees, turkey with all the trimmings and long days at crowded shopping malls.

Police, on the other hand, are thinking about shoplifting, purse snatchings, auto break-ins and armed robberies.

With the beginning of the Christmas shopping and tourist seasons, law enforcement officials and shopping mall managers can count on an increase in those crimes.

''This time of year, when you have a lot of people with an extensive amount of cash, commercial robberies go up, shoplifting goes up and so do purse snatchings,'' said Orlando police Sgt. Paul Huffman. ''We just ask people to be aware of that and be careful.''

Orlando police and Orange County sheriff's spokesmen said that so far this year, shopping- and tourist-related crimes haven't risen more than usual. Nonetheless, they are urging people to be cautious.

Police say the types of crimes that usually increase after Thanksgiving are robberies and burglaries to hotel rooms, and car burglaries, purse snatchings and shoplifting around crowded shopping malls.

Sheriff's detectives say about 20 of the more than 50 robberies and burglaries to hotel rooms in the International Drive area in the last five months may be the work of the same group of people.

Capt. Buck Buchanan said three or four men and possibly one woman, all around 20 years old, may be responsible. The robberies appear to be connected because of similarities in descriptions, ages and occasionally methods of the suspects, Buchanan said.

They urged tourists to avoid traveling alone at night if possible, to park their cars in well-lighted areas, to avoid carrying large sums of money, to be careful of opening hotel doors to people who claim to be maintenance men and to keep their doors locked while in their rooms.

''We have people come down and spend the day in their rooms with the door wide open because the weather is so nice,'' Guemple said.

Guemple and Wiggins said hotels in the area have been especially cooperative recently in beefing up their security staffs and meeting with each other more often to discuss common problems and solutions.

''It's a fine line,'' Wiggins said. ''How do you advise people without creating a whole bunch of negative publicity and scaring them away? We've been relying on hotel security to help us get the message across.''

Crimes against shoppers, while less violent, are more numerous, police said. According to police and shopping mall security managers, the most common crimes are purse snatching and shoplifting.

Groups of petty criminals occasionally cruise parking lots in cars, looking for cars they can break into where packages are visible, said Harry Duffy, general manager at Orlando Fashion Square Mall.

Ken Sparks, a security officer at Altamonte Mall, said stores also have problems with robberies in fitting rooms when customers wander out into the store to show off clothes they've tried on. Sparks said he tells shoppers to remove their wallets from their pants pockets and to carry their purses wherever they go.

''Unfortunately, we make a lovely target,'' Duffy said. ''People generally are coming in here with a lot of money and wind up with a lot of packages in their car.''

Duffy and Sparks said they have beefed up their security forces for the holiday season. Police and sheriff's spokesmen said patrol officers are urged to keep an extra eye on mall parking lots as well.

Police urge shoppers to lock packages in car trunks out of sight of potential burglars; park in well-lighted areas as close to stores as possible; shop in groups if possible, particularly elderly people; and avoid pulling out large sums of money that would tip off a robber that they have a lot of money. In addition, women should make sure purses are secure on their shoulders and merchants should be on the lookout for anyone hanging out near their stores for long periods of time.

''We just want people to be aware,'' Wiggins said. ''Sometimes people are so intent on what they're doing that they develop tunnel vision and forget to look around them.''